British society to this day is more rigidly stratified than American society, with social class divisions that are clearly demarcated with boundaries not easily crossed. Many novelists explored this issue in their works and considered the degree of social mobility possible, the consequences for challenging the system, and often the artificiality of the divisions imposed by society. Some of these concerns can be found in the novels Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray, and Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell.
The concept of parents plays an important role in Charles Dickens' Great Expectations, and parentage determines social position. Pip is an orphan, and the driving force in his life, a drive that takes several different forms, is to have a family, the family he was denied as a child. The stratified social structure of England equates family with social position and worth. An orphan like Pip sees little chance of achieving a high social position because of the lack of family, and antecedents count for more than individual worth or achievement. Pip thus has a double reason for yearning for parents and for seeking a family which will give him the social imprimatur he craves.
In Dickens' view, as the novel shows, true worth does come from within and not from social position or wealth, but this view goes against the grain of British society. Pip learns this lesson after many emotional hardships and disappointments, but in the beginning he is a product of his society and feels the sting of having no parents by which to hang his fortune. Pip's search for a family naturally draws him to people of a social class that will be to his benefit. Miss Havisham has the social position that Pip desires, and this fact contributes to his illusion that she is his benefactor. Pip believes that she has taken a special interest in him because he wants that to be true and wants the social positio...